


Stay With Me

by LeannieBananie



Series: House of Cards [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: -Ish, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Comforting, Cuddling, Fluff, Hugs, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Non-Canonical Back Story, Pre-Relationship, Revelations, Sad, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 11:32:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6752290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeannieBananie/pseuds/LeannieBananie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Danse quickly got out of the chair and sat next to Rylen, trying not to worry about if this was right or wrong or about fraternization, the word clanging in his head like an alarm bell. Instead he focused on comforting someone who was hurting and carrying a ridiculous amount of guilt and sorrow for something that had changed his entire world."</p><p>*Minor dialogue spoilers for the very beginning of the game, but they've been altered by my meddling hand.<br/>*Originally chp 2 of a work called "House of Cards"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos welcomed, so leave 'em if you liked it! And holler at me if you see any mistakes.
> 
> Also, constructive (but kind) criticism is welcome as this is my first m/m pairing and some bits have been challenging. I feel like I'm overthinking things, but I don't want it to be crap.
> 
> This was originally part of a work called House of Cards, but I accidentally deleted things and got irritated, so it was easier for me to do this instead.

Danse heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice over the hum of the generators and paused trying to pinpoint its location. She sounded happy, there was laughing and was that a baby? He followed the noises around the corner of Rylen’s house and hesitated in the doorway when he heard her speak again. 

“Hi, Honey! Listen, I-I don’t think Shaun and I need to tell you how great of a father you are . . . but we’re going to anyway. You are kind, and loving and funny!” The baby gurgled cheerfully and she laughed again, sounding happier than anyone he had ever heard before. 

“That’s right Shaun. And you’re patient. So patient. Patient with me, with Shaun and especially after everything. After Nate.” Her voice changed, the joy dimmed by threads of sorrow, but she laughed softly, a faint glimmer of hope in her words. “Patience of a saint, my mother used to say. Look Ry, with Shaun and us all being home together . . . it’s been hard, I know. But even so, I know our best days are yet to come. There will be changes, well _more_ changes. Other things we’ll need to adjust to. You’ll rejoin the civilian workforce, I’ll shake the dust off my law degree, but everything we do, no matter how hard . . . we do it for our family. Now say goodbye Shaun . . . bye bye? Say bye bye? Bye honey! We love you!” 

He heard the click and whir of a holotape, the beep of Rylen’s pip-boy, and then a choked sob. His feet were moving before he had a chance to rethink it and he entered the darkened house to find Rylen hunched forward on the couch with his head buried in his hands. His shoulders shook silently, but his head shot up at the crunch of Danse’s boots and he wore such a haunted, empty look that it took his breath away. Rylen always seemed so put together, confident, like he had stepped out of Vault 111 and taken to the Commonwealth like a mirelurk to water. And in many ways he had, thanks to the prior military training he had admitted to having. But this Rylen looked tired and lonely, sitting in the dark listening to some of the last words his wife and child had uttered. There was a story there, something Rylen hadn’t told anyone, but Danse disregarded it in favor of shifting restless in front of him. He hadn’t really thought this through, but somehow knew that Rylen shouldn’t be alone right now. 

“Can I sit?” Rylen nodded wordlessly, turning his head away and clearing his throat roughly. Danse slowly lowered himself into an adjacent armchair and let the silence surround them. Distantly, he could hear insects buzzing over the generators and people chatting at the bar, but it didn’t puncture their bubble, where Rylen sighed heavily and Danse picked at a loose thread in the seam of his suit. He didn’t know how long they sat there, but when Rylen spoke it startled him. 

“I don’t remember being patient.” His laugh was hollow and bitter. “I remember being angry and frustrated, but not patient.” Danse didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t, feeling awkward and unsure in the face of Rylen’s quiet admission. “Nate was my best friend. We joined the military together and then he met Nora.” His face was shadowed in the dark, but Danse could see the flash of white teeth as he smiled. “She was a wild one, this red hair down to her waist and a temper to match. Threw a toaster at my head once.” He laughed at the memory, before falling silent again, rubbing his thumb over the holotape in his hands. “I’m sure I deserved it.” 

Questions bubbled madly inside Danse’s chest. He could feel them pressing on him, clamoring to get out. Wasn’t Nora Rylen’s wife? So why was he talking about Nate and Nora like that? And what about Shaun? 

“I remember when they found out she was pregnant. They were so excited and I was going to be an uncle-”

“Shaun isn’t your son?” He hadn’t meant to interrupt, but it burst off his lips before he could stop it. Rylen didn’t seem to mind, he just shook his head and sighed, leaning back into the cushions and propping his bare feet up on the coffee table. 

“He is my son, but he is Nate’s flesh and blood.” He replied simply, as if that explained anything, when really it explained nothing. “They got married at the courthouse when she was five months along. It took him that long to convince her. They were happy though, living in a tiny apartment in Concord. She was only weeks away from her due date when it happened. We were working on the nursery, she didn’t like the color and wanted to repaint. Sent Nate out to the hardware store.” He stopped and Danse could hear his throat working around the solid lump of emotion that was wrapped around every word he spoke. There was a tangible sadness in his tone and posture as he scrubbed a hand over his face like that could wipe away what he was feeling. 

“I will never forget that moment, for as long as I live. Nora was barefoot, wearing one of Nate’s old military shirts when the doorbell rang. She was fucking laughing when she answered it and then she saw the cops she just started crying. Screaming. I ran out and held her, listening while they told us that Nate was dead. A fucking car accident. Dead. And then they said ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ and started going on about making arrangements. Going to the morgue. We got married three days before she gave birth and she cried throughout the entire thing. It was the only way I knew how to help her and she kept saying how sorry she was. That I was giving up my life for her. Like it was even a choice I had to think about. They were my family. My life.” 

“I’m sorry.” Rylen flinched and let out a laugh choked with tears. 

“Not you too.” 

“I didn’t mean-” He impatiently waved a hand in Danse’s direction. 

“Forget it.” But Danse wouldn’t. Couldn’t. He quickly got out of the chair and sat next to Rylen, trying not to worry about if this was right or wrong or about fraternization, the word clanging in his head like an alarm bell. Instead he focused on comforting someone who was hurting and carrying a ridiculous amount of guilt and sorrow for something that had changed his entire world. He grasped Rylen’s hand, clutching it in his own and offering whatever comfort he could, his own voice hoarse with emotion. 

“I am sorry Rylen. Sorry that you and Nora had to go through that. That you had to lose your best friend and have your world pulled apart. I know what that’s like, you know I do. I’m sorry that you had to experience grief like that and still had to keep Nora and Shaun safe. It’s not an easy thing to lose someone you love and no one should have to feel it. So yes, I am sorry.” 

Rylen broke like a dam, curling into Danse’s lap with a ragged, soul-rattling sob. The fingers of his free hand dug into his thigh, while he grasped Danse’s hand like a lifeline, burying his face into his lap as he cried. 

“I failed her.” Danse didn’t say anything, knowing that it was Rylen’s burden to carry and free himself from, but only if he chose to. Instead he trailed his hand carefully over his shoulder, fingers glancing across his racing pulse before tentatively sliding up through his black hair. He kept the sides short and it was raspy under the pads of his fingers, but the top was longer and slicked back. As Rylen shuddered against him, he kept slipping his fingers against the strands, rubbing against his scalp. Rylen seemed to enjoy it, he hummed softly and pushed his head further into the caress. 

How long they laid like that Danse didn’t know. The night eventually went silent, except for the insects and generators, as peaceful and still as a night in a settlement could get. Finally, Rylen sat up, still holding tightly onto Danse’s hand. His gray eyes were bright and slightly glassy and he looked drained and emotional. 

“Would- would you stay with me? There’s two beds in my room if you prefer. I just don’t want to be alone.” Danse was startled, but considered the request. He hesitated to use the word, but their relationship was new and they had only kissed a handful of times. While he highly doubted Rylen wanted anything physical, even this was a level of intimacy that was foreign to him. Sharing a bed in the barracks was different than sharing it with someone you had kissed. Someone who made your heart pound at the most inopportune moments and that you cared about. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I know we haven’t really talked-”

“No, I-I would like that. I think.” It made Rylen chuckle, but it was the truth. He felt a flutter of nervousness and apprehension tangled around a healthy dose of excitement and reckless thrill. He had to remind himself that they weren’t on the Prydwen and that what happened between them here on the ground, in the Commonwealth was not as frowned upon as it was there. 

Swallowing thickly he let Rylen lead him silently into the dark recesses of the house. Not bothering to turn on a light the shorter man turned and peeled off his shirt, leaving his jeans on as he crawled into the bed. Danse felt his heart thump wildly in his chest at the sight of his exposed back, the skin tanned and smooth, but if Rylen heard it he gave no indication. Instead he immediately rolled over to his side on the far edge of the bed, pulling the blankets partway up his body and taking the pressure off Danse, who dithered anxiously in the middle of the room. 

Shifting restlessly he sat on the opposite bed which creaked ominously under his weight and unlaced his boots, arranging them carefully just underneath the frame. He quickly pulled off his shirt, taking the time to fold it precisely, hoping to still the slight tremble in his hands and the sudden pounding of his pulse. Focusing on his breathing, Danse quickly flipped back the blanket and slid behind Rylen, shyly placing his hand on the other man’s hip and wedging his other arm under his own head. His heart skipped a beat when Rylen grabbed his hand and slid it around his waist before settling back down and Danse gradually relaxed against the bare skin of his back. He was warm, hot even, but it was comfortable under the thin blanket. 

“You kept your socks on.” Rylen whispered, wiggling his toes against the scratchy wool and huffing in laugher before shifting to get comfortable. His breathing eventually became steady and slow as he drifted off. Danse tightened his grip on him, bringing their bodies even closer together enjoying the feeling of skin on skin. It was surprisingly comforting to feel the heavy weight of another man against his body, to know that he wasn’t alone, that someone wanted him. It was nice. Tucking his forehead against the skin at the back of Rylen’s neck, pressing a small, secret kiss there, whispering into the dark, 

“You like it.” 


End file.
